Vietnam extends visa waiver scheme for 2017

At long last, some good financial news in these times of economic uncertainty! In a much-anticipated move, the government of Vietnam has announced that it will be extending its visa waiver programme for another year.

The visa waiver programme exempts citizens of the UK, Spain, France, Italy and Germany from requiring a visa to visit Vietnam, as long as they stay for fewer than 15 days.

The initiative was introduced in June 2015 with the hope that it might boost waning visitor numbers to the country. Current figures quoted by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism report that international arrivals are currently up 21.3% on last year – a much more promising outlook than at this point in 2015, when visitor numbers were down 11.3% over the first six months.

These figures may have been behind the government’s decision to extend the waiver programme, which means that travellers do not have to shell out £50+ in order to enter the country.

The extension of the exemption scheme is especially good news for British travellers, who have seen the pound fall sharply in the wake of the EU referendum.

Those wishing to take advantage of the scheme must have six months’ validity on their passport at the time of travel, and must not be re-entering Vietnam within 30 days of their original arrival. Unfortunately, any visa applications made before 16.30 BST on 1st July 2016 will be processed as usual and the fees will not be refundable. The exemption period has been extended until 30th June 2017.

If you would like more information about visa requirements for Vietnam, or if you’d like to discuss any aspect of holiday planning with one of our experts, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.